eta/DSI's extensive Preprocessing capabilities contain all of the functions necessary for expedient, high quality, finite element modeling. Users can read in data with DSI's CAD interface, build their model from scratch, read in an existing model, or a combination of the approaches.
eta/DSI enables users to read in CAD geometry data from the following CAD systems:
Catia Version 4
Catia Version 5
Unigraphics version 18
Unigraphics NX and NX2
Parasolid
STEP
IGES
The IGES interface reads files generated from any CAD system. Supported IGES entity types include:
Name |
Type |
Null Entity |
0 |
Circular Arc Entity |
100 |
Composite Curve Entity |
102 |
Conic Arc Entity |
104 |
Copious Data Entity |
106 |
Plane Entity |
108 |
Line Entity |
110 |
Parametric Spline Curve Entity |
112 |
Parametric Spline Surface Entity |
114 |
Point Entity |
116 |
Ruled Surface Entity |
118 |
Surface of Revolution Entity |
120 |
Tabulated Cylinder Entity |
122 |
Transformation Matrix Entity |
124 |
Rational B-Spline Curve Entity |
126 |
Rational B-Spline Surface Entity |
128 |
Offset Surface Entity |
149 |
Boundary Entity |
141 |
Curve on a Parametric Surface Entity |
142 |
Bounded Surface Entity |
143 |
Trimmed (Parametric) Surface Entity |
144 |
Subfigure Definition Entity |
308 |
Associativity Instance Entity |
402 |
Property Entity |
406 |
Singular Subfigure Instance Entity |
408 |
For the German automotive industry, VDA file format is supported. Supported VDA entity types include:
POINT
CIRCLE
CURVE
SURF
CONS
FACE
If CAD data is not available, eta/DSI has a complete geometry and surface building capability, which acts as an integrated CAD data generator. This is detailed in Chapter 6.
eta/DSI includes a comprehensive selection of functions for creating and modifying line data and CAD surfaces. In addition to automeshing functions, element generation through 2-line, 4-line, 6-line and 8-line mesh creates beam, shell, and solid elements.
All aspects of the model may be modified using the pre-processing menus. All defined material, elements, nodes, contacts and analysis parameters may be modified, deleted, copied, etc., as required by the user.
The ASSEMBLY menu allows users to create assemblies which may be modified as a group. This includes part replacement and connectivity attributes of the model.
eta/DSI's automeshing function easily eliminates 90% of the time required to mesh trimmed and standard surfaces. The automeshing function creates quadrilateral elements with a minimum of triangular elements.
Various automeshing algorithms are available, including Triangular Meshing, Paving Mesh and Topology Automeshing. A tetra element automesher is available, generating both 4-noded and 10-noded solid elements.
eta/DSI supports all LS-DYNA and NASTRAN material and element property cards. eta/DSI's ability to create and assign material and element properties directly on a displayed model greatly reduces the amount of editing required. Definition cards appear at specific junctions in the session prompting the user for material/element properties.
A Material Library is available in the LS-DYNA environment, allowing users to select common ferrous and aluminum materials from a pre-populated set of material definitions.
Users also have the option to specify the analysis software (NASTRAN, LS-DYNA, RADIOSS, PAMCRASH) prior to assigning properties.
eta/DSI seamlessly interfaces with LS-DYNA, allowing the user to create and assign impact, sliding, or automatic interfaces for DSI applications. eta/DSI displays contact properties in easily read and modified CONTACT CARDS with a high degree of speed and flexibility.
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eta/DSI's BOUNDARY CONDITIONS menu allows the user to quickly create and verify constraints and loads on DSI models.
The functions in eta/DSI's MODEL CHECKER menu quickly validate models for element orientation, size, skew, connectivity, and interior angles. Model validation default values are easily adjusted to suit the user's needs.
eta/DSI supports all LS-DYNA Constraint Cards for quick, easy definition and manipulation of joints, welds, rivets, etc.